A city of 500,000 with not even 1m of land connection to the outside... Iquitos in the middle of the Amazon

Even if you look around for hundreds of kilometers, all you see is the jungle, yet a city of 500,000 people appears in a place with no highways or railways connecting it to the outside. This is Iquitos, located in the middle of the Amazon. A video from the YouTube channel 'Seojaero 36' introduces this place as the largest isolated city in the world. It states that in a place where there is not even a single meter of land connection to the outside, there is an airport, universities, and even large shopping malls.

Either a plane or a boat that takes several days... A city more isolated than an island

The only ways to enter Iquitos are to take a plane or to ride a boat for several days along the Amazon River. Although it is on land, it is a city more isolated than most islands. However, once you actually enter the city, motorcycles and cars constantly pass by on the roads, making the term "isolated city" seem out of place, and there are even large marts and hotels.

The airport arrived at by the traveler in the video was not extremely large, but it was modern enough to look newly built, and the interior was simple. However, there was no Wi-Fi at the airport, and mobile data did not work. On the way to the city center, there were many tuk-tuks; the traveler explained that they had hardly seen tuk-tuks in South America, having only seen them once or twice in slums, but here they are a representative means of transportation. The university seen passing by looked modern enough to appear as if it were built less than five years ago, and there was also a shopping mall, conveying an image much more developed than expected.

Belén, a floating slum on wooden stakes, and a market where the old Amazon remains

The video introduces that a completely different world unfolds if you move just a little away from the city center. In this place called Belén, thousands of houses are precariously built on wooden stakes. It is a place where the poorest people in Iquitos gather to live, and it is commonly called a floating slum. When the rainy season comes, the river water rises up to the front of the houses, and when the dry season comes, trash and waste are left behind where the water recedes. Since there are no proper sewage treatment facilities, residents live by washing dishes and their bodies with water mixed with excrement. The video explains that the reason they cannot leave even in such poor conditions is that for them, even living on land is a luxury.

Entering the Belén Market right next to it, the atmosphere changes completely once again. Although it is an era where everyone uses smartphones, traces of the Amazon from hundreds of years ago still remain here. Instead of medicine sold in hospitals, people sometimes take folk medicine made of herbs like cat's claws and leaves, and they also roast and eat giant caterpillars the size of a palm. The video portrays Iquitos as a city where the boundary between civilization and the wild is blurred, with a modern city and primitive Amazonian life mixed in one space.

A jungle lodge recommended by a taxi driver and an animal rescue center

The taxi driver taken from the airport introduced Iquitos as a city surrounded by rivers. One of those rivers is the Marañón River, and he, who was born in the small village of San Antonio along that river, came to Iquitos at the age of fifteen to finish high school, and after learning driving and English here, he began working in tourism. He recommended that if staying for three or four days, one should explore the Amazon River or stay at a lodge in the jungle. He explained that the lodge is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from the city center by boat, and there are many animal rescue centers where one can see anacondas, sloths, monkeys, dolphins, and piranhas.

Regarding jungle mosquitoes, the driver said that while there are many mosquitoes, one does not need to worry about contracting endemic diseases, and that one only needs to bring insect repellent and long clothes and long pants. He informed that the area around Plaza de Armas near the hotel is safe for walking in the evening, and added that people here go to sleep only at 11 PM or 12 AM, and large parties are held on weekends.

The streets are in a party atmosphere even at 10 PM... Considering a 270,000 won jungle tour

According to the traveler, even at a time close to 10 PM, people were dancing and playing in the streets. According to the driver, there was an event like a university graduation ceremony on that day. It seemed like a festival, but the scale was not huge, and the traveler reported it was mostly just dancing or drinking alcohol.

The driver said he wanted to introduce a friend who is a jungle guide, and the traveler listened to an explanation of a jungle tour from another guide. The English was good and easy to understand, but the price was a bit expensive at 270,000 won. The traveler wanted to catch a piranha and fry it to eat, but since doing so would mean spending all the time available here in the jungle, they decided to go back to the hotel to think about it after learning the price and receiving a phone number. They added that they originally had no intention of doing such a tour, but after hearing the taxi driver's suggestion and the explanation, it seemed quite interesting.

The accommodation stayed in that day had only four rooms on one floor, so it seemed like it would be quiet, and the traveler said it was the widest bed they had seen in their life, being larger than a king-size. The next morning, eggs, strawberry jam, and bread were served for free breakfast. The traveler conveyed the impression that the people here seemed much more simple and kind than those in Lima, which they had visited previously.